Salem Witch Trials Essay

1004 Words5 Pages

Although the famous Salem Witch Trials outbreak seemed as a religious purifying exercise, in truth it&rsquo;s rooted in the Indian raids, the revocation of the mass royal charter, social, economic, and political aspects of the late 17th century Salem community. Any behavior regarded as strange by fellow citizens was sufficient to hold a trial with a sentence of death. Though such scenarios seem unfathomable in our modern culture, to a great extent it was a reality for hundreds of New England settlers. Today the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 represents a great reminder of those individuals that suffered and were tortured because they behaved differently.
Salem in this period of time had significant changes (political, social, and religious) that affected the colonists, and the church of New England started to grow exponentially. Their Halfway Covenant allowed children and their grandchildren to gain partial membership access from church members, without them claiming a spiritual experience. As for some churches, they even allowed anyone at a point to gain access to membership, losing its original meaning. A small-pox epidemic took the lives of many colonists that eventually led to distrust and separatism amongst the colonists (Document F). The constant fear of Indian attacks increased the anxiety and colonists thought that God was punishing them while England remained no source of support. (Document E).During King Philip&rsquo;s War, their entire population had declined and one out of every ten Europeans settlers was killed by the Indian attacks. There was also stress among the Puritan community. The Puritans lost their charter in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and in the spring of 1692 they still did not know what their future would hold. These series of events led for early Puritans easily to interpret God&rsquo;s wrath of a sort of witchcraft.
Evidence of

Fransen
English 2
April 4, 2014
Religion and the Salem Witch Trials
In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts had one of the most devastating times in which beliefs, fear, and respect play a major part in the Puritan and American history. The Salem Witch trials protestant belief created the Salem Witch trials, they believed in nonsense, strict rules in their religion and lifestyle, sinning had its extreme punishments.
“The witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in
1962 represent

on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692
Imagine, just for a minute, living in a time and place where you are not free to practice your own religious or spiritual beliefs and you are forced to live in fear because of persecution by the church and everyone around you. Persecution back in 1692 in Salem Massachusetts was a horrible thing. Those persecuted were hanged, burned, and even pressed against rocks if found guilty of witchcraft. Nineteen men and women were carted to Gallows Hill near Salem Village

Witchcraft in Salem
The Salem Witch Trials is a very touchy subject and often hard to explain, the trials were a very interesting subject to come across and write about. Many people died during the witch hunts, over one-hundred and eighty to be exact. The witchcraft cases were very difficult to listen and hear about at the time, many people were confused on what was happening (Harley 308). The people of Salem persecuted innocent, upstanding citizens because of hysteria, fear, and possession

The Salem Witch Trials were a very trying time our young country’s history. While it was a difficult time, there were many diverse causes to the hysteria that gripped Salem in the winter of 1691 and the spring and summer of 1692. It is very difficult to place one’s hand on one particular cause of the Salem Witch Trials, but among the causes of the hysteria were a belief that Satan was acting in the world combined with the fact that God was punishing Salem. The second reason was the idea that Satan

Salem Witch Trials
People will stop at nothing to get what they want. The Salem Witch Trials were no exception. Jealously and greed of a neighbor’s land, and even intolerance of one’s different beliefs motivated these trials. In Juliet Blackwell’s essay, “A Witchcraft Mystery Series: Salem Witch Trials”, she goes as far to say, “It just may be that land, deeds and inheritance motivated the witch hunting more than a desire to expel the devil.”
The trials began in 1692 when Betty Parris, the

died in Salem, Massachusetts. The passing away of these people were due to them being accused of being possessed by evil spirits. Were these people actually possessed or were these accusations made for different reasons? The witch hunts in 1692 have caused debates over why they started, and the debate over the cause is still going on. Many people don’t know why these trials happened, but there are three obvious reasons as to why the witch trials in Salem were generated. The Salem Witch Trials were created

people were put to death in Salem, Massachusetts for witchcraft. It is one of the The Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1492 was caused by a variety of factors including notoriety, martial status, and town divisions.
Notoriety played a big part on the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. "[T]here can be no doubt that they were great actors." According to document D, people pretended they're witches in order to be known. This maybe also because of how the eastern part of Salem lost political influence. During

Bibliography
The Salem Witch Trials of 1962-1963
"People Accused of Witchcraft in 1692." People Accused of Witchcraft in 1692. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
This archive gives a list of all of those whom were accused and the process of law that they had to deal with. This primary source was important to my exhibition because it offered a more in-depth view of those who were sentenced or accused of committing sorcery.
"Procedures, Courts &amp; Officials of the Salem Trials." Procedures, Courts

Olivia Silvestri
Primary Source Assignment
Salem Witch Trials
The witch-hunt started in Salem, Massachusetts early in 1692 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony started believing that the devil was among the Salem Villages and their colonies. A smallpox outbreak in a minor town not too far from Salem produced wariness and fright from the surrounding villages. What initiated as a childish game slowly altered into a severe hysteria. The natural order of life begins with children who acquire naivety

The Uprising of Witchcraft
The Salem trials were a series of events caused by the belief of witchcraft. In 1692, the common knowledge with the basis of the bible led to the hanging of men and women. The accused had to make the decision of dying to save their afterlife or confess to save their mortal life. The Salem Witch Trials was a disappointing time in American history. Idleness of girls started the trials. Anyone could be accused. Historians feel that other occurrences started the outbreak.